To Kill a Mockingbird

By Brian Phillips

Set in a small Southern town, To Kill a Mockingbird is a quintessential story about justice. The movie, which won 3 Oscars (including best actor for Gregory Peck), was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same title.

Told through the eyes of a precocious 6-year-old tomboy named Scout, the story revolves around Atticus Finch’s (Peck) principled defense of Tom Robinson, a poor black man who is wrongly accused of rape. Intermixed is the story of the fascination Scout and her brother have with Boo Radley, their shy, mysterious neighbor whom the townspeople believe is insane.

At the heart of the conflict lies self-induced ignorance and blind hatred versus benevolence and uncompromising principles. The conflict reaches its apex when Atticus rebuffs an armed mob with nothing more than the power of his convictions.

Just as Atticus stood alone, so we must often stand alone as the owner of a smallbusiness . We must often reject the common wisdom and create a new path. We must often stand alone, with nothing but our independent judgment.

Business success requires that we offer a superior value than our competitors. This means breaking the mold, being better in some regard. It means that we can’t do it like everyone else. That takes strength in our convictions, confidence in our judgment, and the courage to tell the mob to go home.